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What spokeshave do you use?

Sorry about the boring thread. I just wanted to know what spokeshave people use and get some comparisons of different types. Possibly provide some details on why you think the type you use is good. I have a Stanley (round) and Record (flat). The Record flat produces a nicer shave than my Stanley round. However, wilser stated the thread link

The handles unscrew which is great for me since most of my basses are set necks and the upper horn can get in the way with a normal spokeshave. I also have a Record flat that I keep set to a rougher cut.

In the meantime, I tuned the Record flat and it shaves better than it did:

- lapped the sole flat and to a mirror finish
- flattened the bed
- made three shims for the bed to close the mouth

I also half tuned the Stanley round (paper shims for this as I'm just testing performance prior to flattening the bed, also sanded the sole lightly for a smother finish) and that also performs slightly better. The mouth of the Stanley round was closed more than the Record, so didn't require thick shims.

I sharpened both blades, scary sharp. However, I'm still not happy with both. Still some chatter with the blade set for a very fine cut. I'm testing these on pine at the moment and I expected good results, but I wouldn't use them on rock maple at this stage.

Looks like a lot of time an energy required to get these cheapies to perform. It should be interesting to compare with the veritas when I get it.

- nice cut when used as a flat
- adjustable mouth
- no chattering, but need to take care when adjusting the depth of cut to avoid cutting out small chunks even with a closed mouth
- the cut is ok when used as a round, but the radius of the shave is very limiting. This spokeshave definately won't replace the round, I'll be keeping my Stanley round
- blade is A2 (last much longer without honing than the HCS blades and is more difficult to sharpen using traditional oil stones or sandpaper) and is thicker than the HCS used in the Stanley and Record shaves

I've now tuned both my Record flat and Stanley round, and am happy with the cut they produce. Spending the dollars on exceedingly expensive shaves isn't necessary if the funds aren't available and time is spent on tuning and working on cutting technique.